Multiple-speed driving mechanism for drilling machines



Jan. 15 1924. 1,481,054 W. R. FOX

MULTIPLE SPEED DRIVING MECHANISM FOR DRILLING MACHINES Filed April 29,1922 2 Sheets-Sheet I 10 Inventor.-

PVzZliam 12.17000,

Ali-Z 4".

Jan. 15 1924. 1,481,054

w. R. FOX

MULTIPLE SPEED DRIVING MECHANISM FOR DRILLING MACHIN ES' Filed April 29,1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 7 J7 J Z 5 /J6 J5 -I E 2 I C 7 i A 1'- Z6 A Q l- 4Y1 A :1 a a 1 3 I //)x! m Zea; 1 I k J9 Y W V 1 V A k. j/ W Jnvnior:

Williazn .3. Fox,

Patented Jan. 15, 1924.

T e-D ST 1575i titan fr YFFl CiEtf With-Harm? For;or zm xspa mcnieaa,Assume reroxi ranonrn nnonrhnyi or Jackson; Mien-rem; A CORPORATION OFMICHIGAN.

MTJ'LTIPLE SIEED nnrvrne MECHANISM FOR- DRILIJNG' Marcrrrnns;

Application filed April 29, 1922. Serial no. 557,327.

To "all whom it may czmce m Be it known that L WILLIAMR. Fox, a citizenof the United States, and resident of Jackson, the county of Jackson,;in the State of Michigan, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Multiplespeed Driving -Mechanism for Drilling Machines,of which the following is a specification.

y invention relates to multiple drilling machines and particularly-"tothe change gear multiple speed driving mechanism for ,the spindles whichare connected with the dr lltools; I aimto provide arugged'constructionofsimple and economical form, and one which willpermit the attendant to change the gear drive quickly.

Other objects of the invention will appear from thefollowingvdescription;

Inthe accompanying drawing?- Fig; 1 is a central vertical sectionthrough the gearbox, with the gearing associated therewith; I

Fig.2 isa plan view of part of the mechanisnrof ig. 1;

Fig. 3"is a vertical modifiedconstruction; I 1

Fig. t'is a detail, and F i-g. 4 is a plan of same,

Sand 6 are views of'other forms of the invention.

sectional View of a In these drawings 1 indicates the. im'a-indriveshaft whichis 'arranged centrally oft a casing or gear box A; This shaftcarrieskeyetl thereto, a master gear member Zh'aving a plurality ofrings of teeth 2 and 2 of difierent diameters, the gear ring .of greaterdiameter being lowermost and; presenting-an uppersurtace onledge 2extending beyond the periphery of the gear ring 2. anti frictionbearings are arranged at 1 and- 1 for the shaftll I At points spacedapart around the master gear spindles 3.'are= located these spindlesbeing connectedwith suitable flexible shaft-j in-g (not shown) throughuniversal joints so jthat'the. tools carried in the lower ends of the"flxibleshafting, may bedriven from the spindles 3- when these arerotated; These spindles 3 are provided with'key ways, to

receive interchangeable pinions', the high speedv pinion 6'being adaptedto mesh with the lower gear ring? of larger'diameter,

andithesepiiiions .;6*are each provided with a knob or'hand'le-portion 6'reach1ng-up' Suitable in the key-way of the spindle and the pinionitself will be stopped inthe proper position byrestingupon the ledge 2ot the master gear. This low speed pinion is readily, ac-i cessible uponremovingfthe cover 8;;as itjis located high on the spindle endcloseloeneath the cover member, and it willf be noticed also that thehigh speed pinion 6;.is readily accessible because its knobyportion liesclose below the lower face of the cover member. t

The high speed pinion rests upon a collar at which is pinned: to.thespin'dle 3, and'this collar serves tohold the spindle in properposition because it rests upon abearing-on. the bottom 8 of the gear,casing. Each of these spindles'is provided withjsucha collar for holdingit in place. i The cover member 8 is readily removable and various meansmay be provided for attaching-this cover member to the gear casingi Oneof these means is shown as consisting of, a nut 10 threaded upon a'screwstud 10 extending; up from the gear casing, but instead of thisconstruction, a cap screw'lO may be em ployed in connection with aU-shaped Washer 10 This cover member is provided with bearings for theshaft 1, andalso vtor the upper ends of the spindles 3. When it isliftedfrom the casing the upper ends of the spindles are exposed so that thepinions may be removed by drawing them upwardly along the spindles, andin placing. the pins member 8 with bearingsfor the upper ends" of thespindles, I may, as- 'shown in Fig.-:3', provide in addition tothelow'er bearings8 in the bottom member of the casing, bearings at 12formed in an intermediate parti-.

tion a of the casing. Further, instead of providing in the cover ahearing such as 1 in Fig. 1 for the main drive shaft, I may provide abearing at 12 in the intermediate partition, so that the cover isentirely free from bearings for the spindles and main drive shaft.

The cover member, when lifted up for the removal or re-placing of any ofthe gears, can be held in its elevated position in any suitable manner.

Any one of the pinions can be removed and its spindle then will be idle.

In driving means of the general type de scribed, it is desirable to havethe small pinion as small as possible in order to secure high speed ofthe spindle and at the same time it is desirable to have a ruggedconstruction. Therefore, in making the connection between the smallpinion and its shaft, I avoid making a key-Way through the pinion backof the teeth, as this would materially weaken the pinion structure, but

instead form the key-way in the upper extension of the pinion whichfurnishes the handle or knob. The key is shown at 14.. This is providedwith an end extending at right angles to the main part of the key andriveted into body of the knob or handle.

Referring to Fig. 5 this shows a main cover 8 doWelled to the maincasing at 15, and provided with a plurality of openings 16, one for eachspindle, through which the pinions may be lifted out individually andothers inserted, without disturbing the main 'cover 8. This constructionwill permit access to the pinions individually, instead of collectively,as in the first form, and any pinion can be changed for another onewithout removing the main cover. Each of these openings may have its owncover as shown at 17 and these may simply rest in place or may beattached in any suitable manner.

As shown at 6 the knob of this modificationmay be provided in the formof a plug held by a pin 18 in the upper flanged part 19 of the pinion,so that when the pinion is in place the plug 6 will rest upon theupper'end of the spindle and thus support the pinion on the spindlealone instead of allowing the pinion, as in the first form, to resteither upon the collar 4 or other hearing, or upon the upper side of themaster gear. A knob such as described may be provided for each pinion,large or small.

Referring to Fig. 6, I provide covers 17 for the openings in the maincover through which the pinions may be lifted out individually. Thisform of cover will have bearings for the upper ends of the spindles.They may be fixed in position in any suitable way. They have sockets 17*by which they may be lifted out and the larger pinions may have socketsat 19 by which they may be lifted out. The smaller pinions may haveknobs as shown.

\Vhile I have shown a two speed drive it will be understood that thisillustrated ing them no fastening devices need be manipulated, but onthe contrary, the pinions.

are simply lifted out of place. While I have shown certain forms of thedevices only in one figure of the drawings it will be understood thatwhere these forms are susceptible of use in the other figures, they areto be regarded as shown there. Thus the depressions in the upper surfaceof the pinions shown in Fig. 6 may be used in the. pinion 7 of Fig. 1,or the partition a of Fig. 3'may be used in any of thefother forms, orthe feature of supporting the pinions on the upper ends of thespindlesm'ay-be employed in Fig. 1 and'Fig. 3.

It will be understood that the description and drawing forming parts ofthis specifi cation are presented byway of illustration of theunderlying features or principles of the invention, and-are not to beregarded as restrictive upon the scope thereof, the latter being definedby the accompanying claims.

Only one pinion occupies a spindle at one time. The rings of gear teethcan be located as close together, one under the other, as gear cuttingpractice will permit, and thus the height and Weight of the gear chestis kept down to a minimum and further weight is also kept down becausethose pinions which are to be idle are removed from the gear chest.

In some previous form of"gea.r chest where the high and low speedpinions are united in one body in pairs and are shifted to position, onepinion section out of mesh and the other companion plniou section inmesh relative to their respective master gear rings, these rings must beseparated by a space greater than the depth of a pinion so that when onesection of a pinion is in mesh with its corresponding gear ring, theother section of the pinion" will be occupying the said space, where itremains'idle, and'this space must be of suflicient depth to accommodatethe pinion section. Iclaim: I 1. In a drilling machine a drillspindle,"a

main driving shaft, a-mast'er gear thereon having multiple rings of gearteeth of different diameters with that of the larger itesi toesidiameterlower-most; and pinions of diiferent diameters to vbe slipped:vertically ontoaor o'fl' from the -spindleat its npperen the downwardmovement of the i-nionsbeing L removable pii-nionsoff:dif'fQn'e'n-tdiameters which may be dropped freely; into place on saidspindles from the top of -the casing the downward movement ofth'epinions b'e inglimited to mesh with-the proper gear rings, only onepinion occupyinga spgindle at one time, substantially as {described 3.In 'combination'in' a: mtrltiple dril li-ng machine, a multiple speeddriving meek anisni for the drill spindlesyoomprising a casing, a maindrive -shaft;a mjasterqgear thereon having multiple "rings-d gear teethof different diameters with thew-gear ring oflarger diameter lowermost,series of spindles'ior' driving the tools arranged-about the master gearancl' bearing'inathecasing,

and interchangeable pinions" of different diameters to be removabflymounted ,upon the spindles, to "be slipped on or i oft there: from attheir upper' ends, the-"said iinions resting in plaeebyravityuanrlbetng-im dividu'a'lly "freely removable," the pinion of smalldiameter being limited -w-h'en" dropped freely along the same, to meshwith 'the large diameter gear ring, andthe pinion: of large diameterbeing-F limited-- in its-down: ward movement to mesh h the gear ring ofsmall diameter; only one pinion' occupv ing a spincl le'atonetime;substantially as described.

l. In combinationin -:a multiple drilling machine, a' multiple speed-driving meet: anismfor the drill spindles; comp singia casing, a maindriving shaft, a master ear thereon having multiple rings of gear'jtee'th' of different i diameters, a series of disposed at di iierent'points around the mas ter gear for driving 'the tools,' said spindlesbearing in the casing, :low' speed inions: to be removably mounted onthe spi ndles and limited in their downward movement slippedthere'on toan upper position in respect thereto to mesh with the gear ring of smalldiameter, and high speed pinions to be remova'bly mounted on thespindles and limited in' their downward movement when slipped thereon tomesh with the gear ring of larger diameter, said high speed pinionshaving knobs or handle portions reaching upwardly therefrom, whereby thepinions maybe lifted off from the tops of the spindlesponly one pinionoccupying-i spindle; at onetime; substantially as de}- :serilied; i v

5. In combination in a multip'le dri'l ling machine;- a multiple speedg'meeh- :anisni for the drill 'spindlesg eoinprising a ica's isn'ggamain" "ving shaft, a'inasterigear thereon I having -u'p per ring'ofgearteeth, and: lower: it of gear teat-not greater diiameter than the 'upperearr mg, spindle-s arranged at difi'e-rent points aeo'ur theafiaseergear; bearings i n the easing for saidspindles, collars-fixed to thespindles for bearing- 0h 11a part Offth fixedeasing structure to holdthe spindles in proper position,high speed pinions -removable and re-placeaible in respect 'to the f-spindle's for slipping "them off or ontothe' upper'ends of the spindles,- said high speed prinions resting -1upon the "collars and} having knobsz-or-"handles extending up wardly,andlOW- speed pinions also removable from and "r-pl'a'e'eable onto thespindles at the upper ends" thereof, sirbs'tant ia llv as described. v

6. combination, a casing, acentral drive shaft; a master gear thereon haviiig ri-ngssof teeth of different diameters," a spind learrangedalongside of the master gear, i nterohangeable high and low speed pi oadapted to bedropped: freelyinto p thereon, the low speed pinion"beingfli-inited to 'a sposition at the-upper end ofthe'spindl, and Y thehigh speed pinion having I a knob or handle reaching upwardl therefrom;said high speed pinion when' slipped-oiito the spindle" being limited inits dow ward movement to mesh with the large diameter gear only, andsaid low speed inion-when slipped onto' "th'e=sp indle meshing with-thesmall diameter" gear ring, only} one inion occupying "the Y spind'le a tone time, substan tially as 'd'eseribedl 7. In nnrljtiplespeed driving"mechanism for the drills of drilling machines 'the con bination of acasing, a'masterge'ar ih' *g multiple rings of gear -teeth of di fierentdiamet-ers'with theflone'fof largest diameter lowermost, spindleslocated at different points about the master gear and pinions ofdifferent diameters-removable and replaceable by slipping them oil fromor onto the upper portions of said spindles, said pinions-being-auttmatically stopperl at the proper level to "mesh' w itlr'theproper gear, the high-*- speed zp-inio'nbeing seated l'we'st and the lowspeed pinion highest only one of said pinions occupying a spindle at onetime, substantially as described.

8. In combination in apparatus of the class described, a master gearhaving rings of gear teeth of different diameters, spindles disposed atdifferent points about the master gear, pinions removably mounted on theupper ends of the spindles and having portions supported on the tops ofthe spindles to determine the'location of the pinions along theirspindles, substantially as described.

the master gear, pinions removably mounted on theupper ends of thespindles and having portions supported on the tops of the spindles todetermine the locationof the pinions, along their spindles, some of thepinions having longer supporting portions I than the others,substantially as described.

10. In apparatus of the class described, a master gear, spindles locatedabout the same, pinions removably mounted on .the spindles and havinghandle portions reaching up therefrom, a key carried by the handleportion and removably engaging a key way in the spindle, and asupporting portion connected to the handle resting on the upper end ofthe spindle to determine the level at which the pinion will be held onthe spindle, substantially as described.

11. In combination in apparatus of the class described," a master gear,spindles disposed at different points about the same. a casing, saidspindles at their upper ends being accessible, pinions removably mountedon the upper ends of the spindles and means for stopping the downwardmovement of the pinions in relation to the spindles and master gear whenthey are placed upon the upper ends of the spindles, said pinions beinginterchangeable and only one occupying a spindle at one time,substantially as described.

12. In combination in apparatus of the class described, a master gearhaving rings of gear teeth of different diameters, a spindle arrangedparallel with the shaft of the master gear, a gear box through the-topof which the spindle is accessible, interchangeable pinions to beslipped onto and off from the said spindles at their upper-ends, saidpinions being automatically stopped-at the proper level to mesh with theappropriate gear ring, substantially as described.

13. In combination in apparatus of the class described, a master gearhaving rings of gear teeth of different diameters. a spindle arrangedparallel with the shaft of the master gear, a. gear box through the topof which the spindle is accessible, interchangefrom,

able pinions to'be slipped onto and off from the said spindles at theirupper ends, said pinions being automatically stopped at the properlevelto mesh with the appropriate gear ring, for which purpose the spindlehas a bearing, for supporting thepini-on when dropped thereupon from theupper end of the spindle, substantially as described.

14. In combination in apparatus of the class described, a casing, a maindrive shaft, master gearing thereon comprising rings of gear teeth ofdifferent diameters, spindles at different points about the mastergearing, interchangeable high-and low speed pinions to he slipped ontosaid spindles from their upper ends, and freely removable thereeachpinion being automatically stopped at the proper level to mesh with theproper gear ring, when moved down along said spindles, only one'pinion,high or low speed, occupying a spindle at one time, the said gear ringsbeing arranged one close-under the other and at a less dis tance apartthan the depth of either pinion, substantially as described. 15.111combination in apparatus of the class described, a casing, a driveshaft, master gearing having gear rings of different diameters, aspindle extending vertically and parallel with the. drive shaft,individual high and low speed pinions to he slipped down along thespindle and each automatically stopped at the proper level to mesh withthe proper gear ring, said pinions being freely removable from thespindles by moving them upwardly therefrom, onlyjone of said pinionsoccupyingthe spindle at one time.

16. In combination in apparatus of the class described, a casing, adrive shaft, master gearing having gear rings of different diameters, aspindle extending vertically and parallel with the drive shaft,individual high and low speed pinions to be slipped down alongthespindle and each automatically stopped at the proper level to mesh withthe proper gear ring, said pinions being freely removable from thespindles by moving them upwardly therefrom, only one of said pinionsoccupying the spindle at one time, the said master gear rings beingarranged closer together than the depth of either pinion, substantiallyas described.

In testimonywhereof, I affix my signature.

- l/VILLIAM R; FOX.

